VF Corp promotes O'Meara to lead international unit

Aidan O’Meara is being promoted to vice president and group president of VF International

Apparel and footwear giant VF Corporation says Aidan O'Meara will be the next vice president and group president of VF International following the retirement of Karl Heinz Salzburger at the end of next year.

Under transition plans revealed yesterday (7 December), Salzburger will remain in his current position through the first quarter of 2017 when he will become a special advisor to the chief executive officer, focusing on the handover of responsibilities in the company's international organisation.

"Karl Heinz's achievements during his 19 years with VF speak to his extraordinary leadership skills and measurable success in building and growing VF's international business, which today represents about 36% of VF's total global sales," says Steve Rendle, VF's president and CEO.

"He has been a driving force behind our business expansion throughout Europe, the Middle East, Africa (EMEA) and the Asia-Pacific region. During his nine years as international leader, the business more than doubled in size."

O'Meara will step into his new role from April next year, and will serve on the company's operating and executive committees, reporting to Rendle.

O'Meara joined VF in 1992, and was named president of the Asia-Pacific region in 2007, with responsibility to build a new organisation in the region and develop a shared infrastructure to support expansion of VF's brands. Under his leadership, VF has an established presence in China and in seven other countries in the region and has seen revenue in the region grew tenfold to more than $1.2bn.

"Our international platform is vital to VF's continuing success," Rendle says. "We are transforming VF to provide a clear path to growth in a changing global marketplace. From mature markets such as the US, Western Europe and Japan, to emerging markets such as Asia, Eastern Europe and South America, we are focused on growth on a global basis. Our international business will play an even greater part in VF's next multi-year business strategy."

To support international growth expectations and to broaden VF's regional leadership teams, reporting to O'Meara will be two individual leaders responsible for the EMEA and Asia-Pacific businesses.

Martino Scabbia Guerrini will become president of VF's EMEA region, a newly created position in VF's management structure. In his current role as president of Sportswear & Jeanswear Brands, EMEA, Scabbia Guerrini oversees the Napapijri, Kipling, Eastpak, Wrangler and Lee brands in the region.

And Kevin Bailey will become president of VF's Asia-Pacific region. As part of the current role as president of VF's Action Sports and Outdoor/Action Sports, Canada, Mexico and Central/South America business, Bailey is responsible for the Vans, Eagle Creek and Reef brands. Under his leadership, revenue for the Vans brand more than doubled to $2.2bn.

Both Scabbia Guerrini and Bailey will serve on VF's operating committee.

The changes follow the planned retirement of VF Corp CEO Eric Wiseman, who is stepping down at the beginning of next year and will be replace by COO Steve Rendle.

For our annual briefing on apparel industry issues to watch in the year ahead, just-style has again asked leading executives for their feedback on the challenges and opportunities likely to emerge in ...

As supply chains move away from emotion-based projections and into a digital era with predictive and prescriptive analytics, Logility hopes to speed the transition with its acquisition of Halo Busines...

Norway's $1 trillion sovereign wealth fund is teaming up with the United Nations United Nations children's agency UNICEF to set up a network with leading fashion and footwear brands and retailers to i...

A cohort of apparel retail brands, suppliers and main street businesses have joined forces to launch a coalition aimed at educating policymakers and the public on the importance of the US global value...

I want to hear about apparel and textile industry webinars and relevant offers

You are agreeing for just-style.com to send you newsletters and/or other information about our products and services that are relevant to you by email.
Clicking above tells us that you're OK with both this and with our privacy policy, terms and conditions and cookie policy.
You can opt out of individual newsletters or contact methods at any time in the 'Your Account' area.
We'll only keep your data for as long as you choose to receive information from just-style.